ANOTHER
ALTERNATIVE
I'm Rob VeVerka, former Director of Executive Education at the University
of Cincinnati. I ran a very successful executive leadership
program - The University
of Cincinnati Executive Program (UCEP). About twenty five
corporate leaders attended each session. About half the sessions
focused leadership and the remainder taught business knowledge. The
courses and speakers were excellent and the attitude questionnaires were always positive. I
believed that participants learned a lot - but was in for a big
surprise.
I
met with each leader for feedback and coaching after they
completed a 360°profile. I helped them to understand the survey
results and together we created an action plan.
The leaders were very open and candid and shared with me their fears and
problems,
strengths, weaknesses, frustrations - their likes and
dislikes. We built a
level of trust that would have never happened in a traditional classroom setting.
THE
PARADOX
I asked the leaders for their
honest feedback on the entire program and got some big surprises.
Several of them politely told me that the classes were
interesting, but less than half of the sessions were were important to
them. Most had demanding jobs
and attending the classes was a challenge. Several
mentioned that some classes were too long. All of them believed that the
class had to be participative or they would simply tune out.
However,
most felt the need for
training and development in order to become a more effective leader.
They wanted to learn, yet didn't have time or patience. Quite a paradox. A few
asked me for suggestions about how they
could learn more in less time and optimize their learning
experience.
That
was the birth of my executive coaching practice. I realized you can
create leaders using individualized instruction in less than half the time of traditional seminar-based
programs. Time is saved by working only on high priority topics
uncovered through assessment. Also, travel time,
breaks, and unnecessary information are all eliminated.
Training can also be more effective and deliver better
results. Let me tell you more.
THE
PROCESS
This
unique Leadership Skills Development
Program has four integrated components - Assessment,
Discovery, Development, and Application. The key benefits for the company and leader are:
- Time is invested
only on high priority needs.
- The leader
becomes actively engaged in their own individualized process.
- The leader is
accountable to the coach, manager and stakeholders for
the outcome.
- Travel and
seminar time is minimized.
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Assessment
After initial discussions with the leader, the manager,
stakeholders and coach, a combination of assessment
are administered based on the leader's needs. These tools
help identify leadership competencies such as Emotional Intelligence, Social Style
Versatility, management skills, or business knowledge.
The coach may
also review previously completed assessments.
Discovery
Based on the feedback from 360°instruments, surveys,
and discussions with the coach and stakeholders, the
leader and coach uncover strengths and weaknesses, prioritize key areas
for improvement, and create a development plan. The
participant and coach meet with the leader's manager to finalized
the plan. They also discuss the manager's role, required resources, and the milestones of the
learning and coaching process.
Development
The coach and leader meet weekly
or bi-weekly usually for three to six months. Ideally the meetings are
face-to-face, but other options are possible. Development
can include, acquiring new knowledge, skill development,
projects, or experiments. The sessions include discussion, training,
seminars, online courses, and readings. The
coach is always available, insuring accountability, and
becomes resource and for creating change.
Application
Each session ends with a
post-session assignment to apply the leader's discoveries
on-the-job. The leader is encouraged to telephone the coach
between sessions to
discuss specific situations and challenges. The
participant journals their progress, successes, and
challenges. At the beginning of the next coaching session,
the leader and coach discuss the results. The leader
will meets periodically with stakeholders and manager for
additional feedback and mentoring. |
LEARN
MORE
Call Rob
directly at 513.772.5115
to get the full details. He would be
happy to discuss this unique leadership development program with you, review results of
previous programs, discuss costs and return-on-investment.
You will learn about an easy way to try the program
without risk. Your satisfactions is 100%
guaranteed. Call if you have a candidate or
are interested to learn more.
READ
Study:
Coaching, Mentoring Programs Underused Leadership
Development Tool,
CLO Media
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